AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Gunsynd (GUN) had net assets of £5.99m at the end of January 2022. That includes £1.08m in cash. Investee company Low6 is still seeking a listing in Toronto via 1319735 BC Ltd. Mining investee company Charger Metals plans to start its maiden drilling programme at the Coates project in Western Australia. First Tin joined the Main Market after the period end.
Tectonic Gold (TTAU) has appointed Ian Bruce as exploration manager, and he will restart the drilling at Specimen Hill. A permit has been secured in the same area for Taree Fields, which was historically a high-grade copper mine. Deep Blue Minerals, where Tectonic owns 10%, raised $236,000 from diamond sales.
Lombard Capital (LCAP) has agreed in principle the sale of LCP Financial to SBS Group for £4.2m in shares and the repayment of a £370,000 intercompany loan. Lombard Capital will acquire Waste and Recycling Services before the sale is completed. Management will be seeking shareholder approval to leave Aquis.
ChallengerX (CXS) has signed a five-year agreement with The American Arena League for the use of the SaaS-based platform CXSports. This will help to promote the league and generate revenues.
Blockchain and open finance investor Coinsilium (COIN) has agreed to purchase $200,000 of YELLOW tokens for the Yellow Network, which is a cross chain overlay, financial information exchange and distributed infrastructure network.
Adam Pollock, who was previously head of corporate and institutional at WH Ireland, has become a director of Oberon Capital, the broking business of Oberon Investments Group (OBE).
Vulcan Industries (VULC) has raised £48,000 at 1.37p each.
All Star Minerals (ASMO) is changing its name to Marula Mining.
AIM
TV programmes producer Zinc Media (ZIN) lost on £2.61m on revenues of £17.5m in 2021. There is already £13m of booked revenues for 2022 and there is potential further business worth £35m that could be delivered this year. A greater proportion of the work being won is for series, rather than one-off programmes. Zinc Communicate, which produces non-broadcast content and podcasts, is becoming increasingly important. The timing of the orders is uncertain and not all the work will materialise, although £8m is at an advanced stage. This suggests that 2022 revenues should be much higher, and Zinc Media should become profitable and cash generative. Last year, the cash outflow from operations was £245,000. Net cash was £2.18m at the end of 2021.
Churchill China (CHH) is beating its rivals thanks to its capital expenditure and investment in marketing, and it has a better order book than normal for this time of year. In 2021, pre-tax profit bounced back from £800,000 to £6m as revenues recovered from £36.4m to £60.8m. The total dividend is £24p a share, while there is £19m in the bank. Churchill China has taken on more than 200 additional staff in the past year and they still require training. Last autumn, selling prices were raised by 12% and a 5% increase is planned for May. That will help to offset the cost rises. Pre-tax profit is expected to be between £8m and £8.8m this year.
Tungsten West (TUN) is reviewing development options for the Hemerden mine because of rising costs. This will lead to a two-month delay. This could lead to a focus on sodium tungstate production because it is higher value than ammonium paratungstate.
Solid State (SOLI) continues to best expectations. Revenues for the year to March 2022 will be around 6% ahead of previous expectations at £85m, while there is a 11% upgrade in pre-tax profit to £7.4m.
Seeing Machines (LSE: SEE) has secured a collaboration with Magna to develop and demonstration model driver monitoring system (DMS) combining, camera, electronics and interior mirror technology. This should help Seeing Machines win more market share.
Plant-based polymers developer Itaconix (ITX) says volumes continue to increase, particularly in the dishwashing detergent ingredients market.
Coral Products (CRU) is trading ahead of expectations in the year to April 2022 and there is a second interim dividend of 0.4p a share. There could also be a final dividend to add to this year’s total of 0.9p a share.
MAIN MARKET
Nuclear-related business has helped structural steel supplier Severfield (SFR) to enjoy record orders. Logistics, infrastructure and data centres are other areas of high demand. Longer-term, battery manufacturing plants could be another booming area. The current order book is worth £479m. The 2021-22 figures will be in line with expectations with pre-tax profit forecast to improve from £24.3m to £28.1m. This year’s revenues should be better than previously expected, but profit expectations have been maintained because of higher steel costs. The higher steel prices mean that higher working capital is required.
Full year profit of kitchenware retailer ProCook Group (PROC) will be slightly lower than expected at £9.5m. ProCook has grown revenues in a market that is slightly down
J Smart Contractors (SMJ) reported a decline in interim revenues from £5.75m to £5.16m, while pre-tax profit jumped from £890,000 to £6.35m, although that was due to a gain on the sale of investment properties of £6.06m. It is unlikely that full year profit will be higher this year. Net assets are £117.2m, including £76.2m of investment properties and net cash of £27.6m. The interim dividend is 0.96p a share and the ex-dividend date is 5 May.
Andrew Hore
